It turns out those risks have as much basis in myth and misunderstanding as they do in actual fact. Even so, there is a reason you should switch to flight mode when you fly.

And you might want to limit your kids' use of the phone.

Do mobile phones cause brain cancer?

Not according to the best available evidence to date, say safety experts, although more research is underway.

"There's no established evidence that the radiation from mobile phones causes brain cancer or any other health effects", Ken Karipidis from the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) says.

"People hear radiation and they think nuclear or dangerous, but mobile phones give out low energy radio frequency radiation — the same radiation used in TV and radio signals all around us."

There are studies that have linked heavy mobile phone use and certain brain tumours but "their evidence is far from conclusive", Dr Karipidis says, because they rely on people remembering their phone use "… and people with tumours tend to over-report [their phone use]".

Instead of relying on memory, a massive study called COSMOS is tracking the phone use and health records of hundreds of thousands of people in the UK and Europe for the next 20-30 years to look for any evidence of health effects.

There haven't been enough studies looking at how mobile phone use could affect the health of children.

There haven't been enough studies looking at how mobile phone use could affect the health of children.

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Meanwhile, experts say if you're worried, you can limit the use of mobile phones, or make sure the antenna — which is the primary source of energy — is further away from your head.

This may be especially relevant in children.

Children's skulls are thinner and their brains are still developing, Dr Karipidis says, although he adds there's no established evidence that kids are more sensitive to phone radiation.

Flight mode vs Black Hawk down

We dutifully switch our phones to flight mode before a plane we are on takes off, and leave them that way until after landing, but how real is the risk that a phone call, Facebook 'like' or humble text message could interfere with the plane's instruments?

According to the mobile phone industry body — the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) — not very.

Can our phones cause fire near petrol pumps?

It has been traced back to a hoax email, and been debunked not once but twice by the rigorous investigative team at Mythbusters. And by Dr Karl.

Some actual researchers also took a look at it too.

A 2006 study assessing the risk of using a mobile phone at a petrol station found that "dropping a cell phone on a hard surface … caused the battery to disconnect in the majority of cases and could potentially create an impact spark under ideal conditions. All other potential ignition risks were deemed negligible".

So why do we still have the "mobile phone prohibited while refuelling" signs?